In the winter of 2008, the Battle Lake area faced declining school enrollment, difficult retail and tourism conditions, business closures, deteriorating storefronts on Lake Avenue, outdated city infrastructure, and the threat of park downgrades and program cuts. From these challenges emerged a community vision and the leadership of Mayor Chuck Reeve, who served from 2009 to 2016 after previously serving on the council from 2004 to 2009 and taking office when Mayor Les Estes died unexpectedly. During Reeve's tenure, community members and city leaders worked together to secure HRA grants for downtown storefront improvements, modernize all city parks, bring natural gas utility service to the area, build three segments of the Glendalough Trail, complete a Complete Streets and arts project on Lake Avenue, support a Good Samaritan expansion, construct a new Fire Hall, and recreate an Economic Development Authority. An estimated 18 new businesses later opened in the Battle Lake area, Glendalough State Park visitation rose from less than 50,000 in 2014 to more than 90,000 in 2017, and District 542 achieved National Award-Winning school status. Reeve had been a periodontist at Mayo Clinic for 39 years, and he and his wife Louise had raised six children in Rochester, Minnesota, while spending summers at West Battle Lake and Glendalough State Park before retiring permanently to Battle Lake. After his retirement as mayor, the Reeve children made a significant donation to the city to honor the service legacy of their parents.